First it was the price of kerosene, and now with Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) becoming scarce, winter couldn't be worse. The Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has repeatedly said that supply has improved but there's just no LPG at the distribution outlets.

The NOC maintains it could be seasonal demand and the increase in LPG-run vehicles that could have skewed its assessments. "We've increased monthly imports to 3,500 tons since December. We think that should be enough to meet the demand," says Madan Raj Sharma, General Manager, NOC. "The scarcity is not due to any real shortage but related more to matching demand and supply."

Businesses say the hike in kerosene prices late last year may have led to more people using LPG for cooking, one reason for the increased demand. Besides, not just microbuses and three-wheelers but even many taxis use subsidised cooking-gas as a substitute for petrol. Part of the problem is poor LPG storage capacity, which nationwide adds up to about 835 tons.